Increaser for lasts



Dec. 16, 1930. J. E. swANsoN 1,785,153

' INCREASER FOR LASTS Filed DBC. 9, 1927 en'or John Swanson bym A1 tys Patented Dec. 16, 193

NT OFFICE" i a,

JOHN n; SWANSoN, or JAMAICAPLAIN, MASSACHUSETTS INGREASER ron LAS'rs Application filed December 9; 192?. V Seria1`No.238,802.

is This invention'relatesto improvements in waist mcreasers orwalst and instep lncreasers for lasts and the general object thereof 1s to provide aldetachable device adapted when applied toa last to `increase the height andhreadth of the comb portion of the last thereby enabling standard lasts to' be employed in theonstruction of shoes requiring a higher or morey ample waist effect.

The present inventionis also adapted to be employed in the manufacture of pumps and is used to increase the circumference of theV upperfportion of the vamp thereby preventing the edge of the. vamp from biting into the foot while permitting the shoe otherwise to be soY formedas properly to iit'the foot.

, A further object of the inventioniis to provide a waist and instep `increaser forv lasts which willfenable a shoe'ha'ving an instep strap tol be so constructed that the .button for thestrap may be vadapted forrthe higher nwaist effect and if set over forthelower. waist effect will conceal the scar produced by the removal of the button. f v

By theuse of the present inventiomtherefore, standard lasts employed inthe manufacturefofv regularlines. ofshoes may also be adapted for use in the manufacture of special shoes such as those having. higher instepy effects,v thereby `saving the expense which otherwise would be required'for special lasts.

Thepresent invention `also adds to the con- 'venifence ofthe shoe' manufacturer in that it enables the same last -tobe employed for Adif;

Vlferentpurposes without the"V necessity of changing lasts whenit is necessary or desirable to produce shoes having higher waist or vinstep effects. v l

. These .and other objects Vand featuresgof the invention Vwill more fully"appearv from the following description and the accompany? ingdrawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims. y

The present invention is -an improvement upon the. .invention disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,180,204,l granted- April 185.1916,

Vwhich discloses a metallicincreaserfor lasts comprising a va-sha'ped bodyl portion and a' lateral instep portion adapted to-embrac-e the waist andnstep 'portions ofthe comb of the last. In that con-struction the V-shaped body Y of the increaser engagesthe toe portion of the last with laterally extending wings which conform to the'lower waist portion( vTheupper end of the Veshaped body is spaced apart from thelast .while the edges of the body portion engage the sides of the comb of the last. In the'rough handling ofv lasts having such metallic increasersapplied thereto the illustrated in` the accompanying drawings, in

v Fig. l is an eleva-tion of a last having an increaser embodyingv the present invention applied thereto;. y

Fig.V 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a last withthe waist increaser applied thereto; y l

Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional view through the increaser and stud by which it it *attached to the last; and, l i

. Fig. 4 is vafdetail sectional view illustrating the mannerinwhichthe increaser maybe removed fromthej last by a suitable detachingtool. V Y 'K l The last illustrated Vin Fig. 1 is designed for the manufacture'v` of womens shoes and comprises' a toe. portion l theball dimension of whichis illustrated by the vdotted linev a, a waist portion -2 the waist line of which is lillustrated by the dotted line b, the instep portion 3 the instepline of which is illustrated bythedottedline c', `and theheelportion 4;. The waist increaser is shown in Fig. l as applied to and fitting the upper waist and instep, portion of the comb 6 of the last vand extends downwardly, preferably at a point slightly' below the vamp line Vwhich s llustratedn dotted lines,

tro

The inereaser comprises a tansversely P7 y f' curved pad i of preferably resilient nbrous material, such as leather, the lateral and lower edges 8 of which are so tapered that the curvature of the outer surface of the pad merges into the curvature of the last so that when the increaser is applied to the last it corresponds to a. last having a somewhat higher waist and instep. Desirably the waist increaser is of heavy leather the grain side of the leather being upon theV upper surface and the under surface of the pad so skived that when applied to the last the grain surface of the leather constitutes in effect a continuation of the curved surfaces of the waist and instep portions of the last.

As one of the objects of the invention is to provide a device which may be applied to standard lasts and removed when desired,

suitable means are provided for detachably Y securing the increaser to the last. In the preferred construction herein disclosed a stud 9 is permanently secured to the pad and is adapted detachably toengage the walls of a suitable socket in the lower portion of the comb of the last.. The lower end of the stud 9 desirably isf provided with a transverse slot 1() extending well into the stud, enabling the lower ends'11 and 12 thereof to be slightly separated so thatl when the stud is inserted in the complementary socket in the last the sections 11 and 12 of the end of the stud will be sprung together and their resilience will cause such frictional engagement with the walls of the socket as to hold the stud firmly, but detachably, in place.

The upper end portion 13 of the stud, which extends through the pad, is of a reduced diameter, thus providing a shoulder 141- to engage the under face of the pad. Desirably a washer 15 is seat-ed upon the shoul der 14- of the stud and engages the under face of the pad 7 into which it is desirably countersunk tlush with the under face of the pad. A washer 16 also surrounds the end of the stud and engages and desirably is countersunk into the upper surface of the pad 7 so as to be flush therewith. Desirably the upper end of the stud isprovided with an axial recess 17 and the wall 18 of said recess is riveted down upon the washer 16. By beveling the wall of the central hole of the washer the expanded upper end 10 of the stud will sufficiently overlie the beveled wall of the washer so that there will be substantially no interruption of the curved upper surface of the increaser.

rI`he last, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, is provided with a cylindrical socket 19 to receive the stud 9. This socket 19- desirably is of a size to provide a fairly close lit for the stud 9 so that the expanded lower end portions 11 and 12 will engage the walls of the socket withv suiiicient friction to retain the increaser in place and in firm engagement with the last.

Desirably an aperture 20 extends through the increaser in proximity to the periphery of the washers 15 and 16, thus enabling a suitable tool 21 having a laterally bent point to be inserted through the hole 2O and beneath the washer 19, whereupon the increaser can be readily removed by a slight prying and pulling movement of the tool.

The aperture 2O desirably is made of the same diameter as the aperture which receives the reduced portion 13 of the stud, and is located in longitudinal axial alignment there with thus being adapted to also receive the reduced portion of the stud. By reason of this construction, the stud may be placed in either one of the two apertures so that the pad may be placed at different distances longitudinal of the comb of the last thus enabling the waist portion of the last upper to be further increased when the stud is in the upper aperture. In either case the extracting tool may be inserted in the open aperture, and introduced beneath the washer upon Vthe stud which is fixed 1n the other aperture.

The increaser may be of any desired length.

'As illustrated in Fig. 2 it is relatively short and adapted only to increase the waist I measurement of the last, while as illustrated in Fig. 1 it extends well up the instep portion of the last and serves to increase both the waist and instep. As heretofore stated, the lower end 22 of the increaser desirably extends slightly below the vamp line d of the usual low pump or single strap shoe, thereby slightly increasing the circumference of the upper edge of the vampv so that shoes constructed upon the last thus increased will not bite into the flesh of the foot.

The invention, however, is particularly adapted to provide a last which can be employed in the manufacture of shoes having high waists. It is a fact that the ball measurement of the foot on line a is slightly greater than the waist measurement of the foot on the line o. It, therefore, follows that in high waist effect shoes the waistmeasurement. of the shoe mustbe greater than the waist measurement of the foot in order that the foot may be inserted into the shoe. A shoe upper having a high waist effect is illustrated, in the dot and. dash lines@ and the increaser illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is designed to permit suchl additional fullness of the vamp as will enable the toe of the foot to be introduced into the shoe, and' also to cause the shoe properly to fit around` the waist4 portion of the foot.

The invention is also adapted' for use with the one strap pumps or shoes in4 which a single strap extends over the instep. The upper of such a pump is illustrated in dotted lines f which also illustrates the strap g passing over the instep and having at its end a buttonhole L to receive a button which is sewed, or otherwise secured, to the quarter. In the manufacture of one strap shoes on usual lasts, the button is set according to a usual standard.V If it is necessary to it the shoe to a foot having a higher instep, the button must be set back toward the edge of the quarter, thereby exposing the scar produced by the removal of the button. By the present invention the strap is passed over the increaser and the button attached to the quarter in a position which will be proper for a high instep shoe. If the shoe is then fitted to a foot having a lowinstep the button will be secured further down upon the quarter so that the strap will conceal the scar left by the removal of the button.

It will thus be obvious that the present invention is adapted to many uses. It enables the regular last to be used in the manufacture of shoes having high instep effects. It provides forv the manufacture of pumps in which the upper is carried above the waist line to produce the effect of a tongue as illustrated by the dotted lines e. It provides for the manufacture of shoes having high insteps as well as high waist effects and various other purposes well known to those skilled in the art.

The present invention enables a shoe manufacturer to make these special shoes upon regular lasts without the necessity of purchasing or carrying an additional line or lines of lasts for this purpose. The increaser, being of flexible resilient material, is adapted to fit any last and can be transferred when desired from onesize last to another. It is also adapted to fit any type of last.

The apertures in the lasts to receive the stud may be readily bored at the proper place i in the comb of the last either by the use of a jig, by measurements, or by the eye. It is, therefore, easily and readily applied to any type of last.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein is of an illustrative character and that .various changes in material, form, and construction may be made within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the inventionwhat is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

l. An increaser for lasts comprising a pad of resilient fibrous material permanently curved to conform to the waist portion of the comb of the last with its lateral and lower edges tapered to merge into the curvature of the last, a stud having'a split and slightly expanded lower end adapted frictionally and detachably to engage a socket in the last and having a reduced upper end portion extending through said pad and presenting a shoulder beneath said pad, a washer on Said re duced portion engaging said shoulder and the under face of the pad, a washer on said stud engaging the upper face of the pad and curved to conform to the surface of the pad and countersunk therein with the end of the stud expanded upon said upper washer, said pad having an aperture therethrough adjacent to said washers to permit the introduction of the end of a detaching tool below the lower washer whereby the pad may be removed without distorting or otherwise damaging the same.

2. An increaser for lasts comprising a pad of resilient material shaped to conform to the waist portion of the comb of the last with its lateral and lower edges tapered to merge into the `curvature of the last, a stud extending centrally through said pad having means upon its upper end Vto engage the surface of the pad, a washer on said stud engaging the under surface of the pad, and a shoulder upon the stud engaging said. washer, said stud having an expansible lower end adapted to engage the socket in the last, said pad being provided with an aperture extending therethrough in proximity to said washer to permit the introduction of a detaching tool below said washer, whereby the pad may be removed without destroying or otherwise damaging the saine.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN E. SWANSON. 

